Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia in Dhaka on Sunday. (Reuters)

Dhaka, Dec. 28: Bangladesh goes into a conciliatory poll tomorrow that marks not only a return to democracy but also promises an exceptional departure from a cycle of violence that rival parties resort to because one or the other cannot accept the results.

In their final rallies and telecasts last night, the principal contenders, “battling begums” Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, reached out to each other, one promising to abandon hartals (strikes) and the other promising to confine politics to Parliament.

“This is remarkable because we have had a history of fractious, violent politics but this time I think the appeals have had an impact on the public. Combined with the presence of the army in the conduct of the elections, I am hoping this will be one of the cleanest elections ever,” says Lailufar Yasmin, associate professor of international relations, Dhaka University.

A contrite Zia offered an apology for the mistakes she had made in the past at her rally in Dhaka’s Paltan Maidan last evening and, in Chittagong, Hasina said it was time to overcome a period of confrontationist politics.

“Let us all, ranging from (the) government, (the) party and (the) Opposition, create a transparent political culture,” said Hasina.

“I seek forgiveness for mistakes I may have made in the past,” said Zia.

The appeals are largely targeted at young voters. Nearly 25 million of the 81-million electorate are first-time voters, which makes the results all the more unpredictable.

Voters have been given the option of not choosing a candidate. They have to mark an X on the ballot paper if they want to exercise the option. If 50 per cent voters choose it, a repoll will be ordered

The army is almost fully deployed. The military-backed caretaker government has declared that the army will stand guard for 48 hours after the results. The army will be aided by about six lakh police personnel at the 35,000 booths. A ban on most vehicular traffic has been imposed and mobile phone networks are likely to be switched off late tonight.

No unofficial results will be published in the media and the election commission, headed by a former brigadier general, will be the only authority to announce them on Tuesday.

Zia heads the BNP-led four-party alliance and Hasina the 14-party mahajot led by her Awami League. Former dictator H.M. Ershad’s Jatiyo Party is in the mahajot and is angling to be kingmaker in case of a hung Parliament.

There has been practically no pre-election violence. An estimated 50 people were killed in the last election, in October 2001.

“We have seen a radical change in the behaviour of parties during campaigning,” said election commission secretary Humayun Kabir. “Except for some minor incidents, there has been little violence. We are confident the election will be the best in the country’s history.”